Link to an image of this page [n3v p198]
In detractores.
Against his detractors
XXVIII.
Audent flagriferi matulae, stupidique magistri
Bilem in me impuri pectoris evomere:
Quid faciam? reddamne vices? sed nónne cicadam
Ala una obstreperam corripuisse[1] ferar?
Quid prodest muscas operosis pellere[2] flabris?
Negligere est satius, perdere quod nequeas.
Those cane-wielding, empty-headed, thick-skulled teachers dare to spew out on me the bile of their foul minds. What am I to do? Return like for like? But surely I would then be said to have seized the dinning cicada by the wing. What is the good of driving flies away with tiresome swipes? It is better to ignore what you cannot get rid of.
1. cicadam / Ala una...corripuisse, ‘to have seized the...cicada by the wing’. See Erasmus, Adagia, 828 (Cicadam ala corripuisti): if you hold a cicada by the wing, it will only chirp more loudly.
2. muscas...pellere, ‘driving flies away’. See Erasmus, Adagia, 2660 (Muscas depellere): driving flies away is a waste of effort as they simply return.
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- insects: cicada (+ animal(s) being hit, shot, caught) [25F711(CICADA)(+621)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- insects: fly (+ postures, positions of animal(s)) [25F711(FLY)(+53)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- teacher and pupil [49B240] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Tolerance, Long-suffering; 'LonganimitĂ ', 'Toleranza' (Ripa) [57A72] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Contempt (+ emblematical representation of concept) [57BB21(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Calumny, Detraction; 'Biasimo vitioso', 'Calunnia', 'Detrattione', 'Maledicenza' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [57BB25(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
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Link to an image of this page [n3r p197]
In nothos.
Bastards
XXVI.
Herculeos spurii semper celebretis honores:
Nam vestri princeps ordinis ille fuit.[1]
Nec prius esse deus potuit,[2] quàm sugeret infans
Lac, sibi quod fraudis nescia Iuno dabat.[3]
Bastards, you should always celebrate the honours of Hercules, for he was the chief of your line. He could not become a god until as a babe he sucked the milk which Juno was giving him, unaware that she was being tricked.
1. Hercules was fathered by Jupiter on Alcmene, wife of Amphitryon of Thebes, and became his father’s favourite. Juno, wife of Jupiter, in jealousy pursued Hercules with implacable hatred.
2. After all his Labours (see previous emblem) and other exploits, Hercules, by the will of Jupiter, was received among the gods. See e.g. Ovid, Metamorphoses, 9.156ff; Cicero, De officiis, 3.25.
3. For the story of Juno tricked by Jupiter into suckling the loathed Hercules see Pausanias, 9.25.2. This divine milk apparently counteracted Hercules’ illegitimate birth which otherwise disqualified him for heaven. See Erasmus, Adagia, 2070 (Ad Cynosarges).
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- illegitimate child, bastard [42B360] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Hercules is found by Juno and Minerva; the latter puts him on Juno's breast (+ variant) [94L1211(+0)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- specific aspects, allegorical aspects of Hercules; Hercules as patron [94L7] Search | Browse Iconclass
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